Sheet-handling apparatus



S. E. DIESCHER SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Shem.

Filed Dec. 24, 1924 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

April 9, 1929.

April 1929- s. E. DIESCHER 1,708,411

SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 24, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 M311)? 3;AW.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 9 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL E. DIESCHER, F WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO S. DIESCHER& SONS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A PARTNERSHIP CONSISTING OF SAM-UEL E. DIESCHER AND AUGUST 1?. DIESCHER.

SHEET-HANDLING APPARATUS,

Original application filed July 2, 1923, Serial No. 649,168. Divided andthis application filed December 24,. 1924. Serial N0. 757,954.

After sheets have been reduced in a hot mill to the desired gauge theyare arrangedin packs and annealed preparatory to cold rolling. Onaccount of the temperature employed in annealing, adjacent sheets tendto adhere one to the other. If the bond between sheets is too strong topermit of the sheets being separated by hand, the packs are subjected toa hammering operation to so stretch the sheets that they will bucklesufiiciently to rupture or weaken the bond sufficiently to permit of thesheets being separated by hand.

After the sheets have been separated, they are re-piled and the pileconsisting of loose sheets carried to the cold mill.

The invention described herein has for its object the provision of meanswhereby the several operations of hammering the packs, separating thesheets and conveying the separate sheets to the cold rolls arefacilitated. The invention is hereinafter more fully described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Fig.1 is a diagrammatic view showing a relative arrangement of hammeringmeans, cold rolls, and conveyors extending from the hammering means tothe cold rolls; Figs. 2 and 3 show in elevation conveyors and coldrolls; Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on an enlarged scale of theconveyor.

In the practice ofthe invention the packs or annealed sheets arearranged on anvils 1 arranged by preference parallel with cold rolls 2.Tracks 3 are arranged along the line of anvils for the movement of aportable hammering mechanism, indicated at A, from anvil to anvil. lnsuitable proximity to the line of anvils is arranged a line of benches 4for the openers, who remove packs or per-- tions ef packs from theanvils and who separate sheets one by one and arrange them in packs ofseparated sheets. The packs of loosened sheets are then placed onconveyors extending from the several benches 4 to suitable proximity tothe cold rolls, as for examplc to one end of benches 5 arranged in frontof the cold rolls. The sheets are fed one at a time to the cold rollsfrom piles resting on the laps of the operators sitting on the benches5. In order to facilitate the removal of the packs from the conveyors tothe laps turned down into position for feeding. A

suitable construction of conveyor is shown 1n FlgS. 2, 3 and 4, andconsists of a belt 6 passing around spaced rollers 7 and also supportedby intermediate rollers to prevent sagging of the belt. As it is desiredthat the packs of sheets should move automatically from the bench 4 tothe bench 5, the line of rollers 7 is inclined downwardly from the bench4 to the bench 5, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As it is preferred that thepacks should be supported in an approximately vertical position, whilemoving along the conveyor, a series of supporting rollers 8 are arrangedadjacent to one end of the rollers 7 and in order to prevent the packsfrom falling forward, these rollers are slightly inclined and therollers 7 and belt 6 are also inclined in order to keep the packs incontact with the rollers 8, as shown in Fig.4. As the packs may acquireconsiderable momentum in moving along the conveyor, the belt does notextend to the end of the bench 5, and a shelf 9 in line with the beltand a back piece 10 in line with'the supporting roller 8 is interposedbetween the conveyor and the bench 5. As the packs pass onto the shelfand back piece, their momentum will be so reduced that the edges of thesheets will not be injured by impact when they are stopped. As the shelfand back piece are at the end of the bench, the operator on the lattercan reach up and pull a pack onto his lap in position for feeding thesheets into the rolls 2.

While any suitable type or construction of hammering mechanism may beemployed for hammering the packs, it is preferred to employ themechanism described and claimed in an application filed by me July 2,1923, Serial N 0. 649,168, new Patent No. 1,597,268, of April 24, 1926,of which application this case is a division.

I claim herein as my invention:

1. Sheet rolling mill apparatus, compris ing a stand. of finishingrolls, a table arranged in front of the rolls for supporting a pack ofsheet metal in position to feed individual plates to the rolls, and agravity conveyor leading to said table and terminating at a sidethereof, said conveyor having a base for lllll supporting on their edgesa series of packs of sheet metal and having a side for maintaining thepacks in vertically disposed positions, whereby packs of plates may becontinuously supplied to a Workman in positions for turn ing them overupon said feed table.

2. Sheet rolling mill apparatus, comprising a stand of finishing rolls,a table arranged in front of the rolls for supporting a pack of sheetmetal in position to feed individual plates to the rolls, and a gravityconveyor leading to said table and terminating at a side thereof, saidconveyor having a roller I base for supporting on their edges a seriesof packs of sheet metal and having a backwardly inclined roller side formaintaining the packs in vertically disposed positions, Whereby packs ofplates may be continuously supplied to a Workman in positions forturning them over upon said feed table.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

SAMUEL E. DIESCHER.

